Chinese Premier's vist to India

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao is expected to give some but take a lot during his three-day India trip, billed by his countrymen as a â€œsignificant eventâ€. Although the dragon wants to kiss and make up on the issues, such as stapled Chinese visas for residents of Jammu and Kashmir and Indiaâ€™s bid for permanent membership in the UNSC, what the sixth Chinese Premier will target during his second India visit â€” his first visit was in April 2005 â€” is opening up of a window for Chinese companies.
The former geologoist and engineer â€” regarded as the leading figure behind Chinaâ€™s economic policy shift â€” will lead 400 businessmen, one of the largest ever business team ever travelled with a Chinese head of state to India.

Also, government sources told HT on Tuesday that the two countries are likely to announce a CEO forum for furthering business ties.

If the $60-billion bilateral trade target set for this year is achieved, China will become India's biggest partner. The two countries are, however, planning to almost double the target to $100 billion in five years.

But New Delhi will pitch for Beijing expanding its import basket to include Indian IT, pharmaceuticals and agriculture products to correct the trade deficit that was $19 billion in 2009-10.

On the other sticking issues, Chinese assistant foreign minister Hu Zhengyue said, "We will not exclude the possibility of any discussion."

The stapled visa issue and the rejection of visa to General BS Jaswal on the ground that he had headed troops in Jammu and Kashmir have led to India putting on hold defence exchanges, which China is keen on.

Indications are that China has already promised to find some solution and may even roll back of the policy that started in 2008. India flagged this issue in recent months, as it amounted to China favouring Pakistan on the Kashmir issue.

If they haven't managed to find a solution yet, I doubt they will find one this visit. With regards to the stapled visas, India should just issue new passports to people from Tibet, and issue similar stapled visas for those from Hong Kong. Ha!

After all, he has a controlled media back in China, while the Indian media is a free for all entity that would surely ask difficult and sensitive questions that would queer the pitch and leave the Chinese Premier befuddled and hot under his collar!

Chinese PM Wen Jiabao is due to begin a three-day official visit to India aimed at boosting trade ties between the two countries.

China is India's largest trading partner - two-way trade volumes are set to hit $60bn (Â£38bn) this fiscal year.

The two nations fought a brief border war in 1962, but ties have improved.

Tensions remain, however, between the rising powers over their shared 3,500-km (2,170-mile) border, decades on from the conflict, which China won.

During his visit Mr Wen will hold talks with his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh, External Affairs Minister SM Krishna and the ruling Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi.

In October he told Mr Singh on the sidelines of a regional meeting in Vietnam that there was "enough space" in the world for both countries to develop.

Mr Wen - the first Chinese premier to visit India in four years - is expected to be accompanied by 400 businessmen.

"Economic ties constitute literally the bedrock of our relations. Both sides are keen to further enhance mutually beneficial trade and are looking at new initiatives," an Indian foreign ministry spokesman was quoted as saying by Reuters news agency.

'Not flattering'
Though bilateral trade is booming, analysts say the relationship is not flattering for India.

"India faces a ballooning trade deficit with China and the dumping of Chinese goods that is systematically killing local manufacturing. Mr Wen comes with a huge trade delegation to fortify this asymmetrical relationship," said Indian strategic affairs analyst Brahma Chellany.

Ties between the two countries were strained in August when India cancelled defence exchanges after China refused a visa to a Kashmir-based general.

Last year, India protested against the Chinese practice of issuing visas to Kashmiris on separate pieces of paper, unlike the standard visas it offered to other Indians. China gave no explanation for the move.

China is also strongly critical of India for granting residence to the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.

It is also close to India's traditional foe, Pakistan, with whom it is co-operating on military and missile development, cross-border infrastructure, and a deep-water port.

"Relations are very fragile, very easy to be damaged and very difficult to repair. Therefore they need special care in the information age." China's envoy to India, Zhang Yan, told reporters ahead of Mr Wen's visit.

Mr Wen will travel to India's nuclear-armed neighbour, Pakistan, for a two-day official visit after completing his India trip.

Two years later,Wen will have to leave his office. So, Wen in fact is a lame duck .

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I don't think you understand how official deals are made between two different countries. The deals are country to country deals not Man Mohan Singh to Wen Jiabao deals, they are just representatives of their respective countries. You talk as if Wen has a mind of his own. He is here merely to broker deals with India on behalf of CPC which claims to represent Chinese people.

India should look out for itself when dealing with China in the arena of Trade. India should make sure that there is an increase in trade but that of a balanced one and we should move away from current trade imbalance cause by cheap imports from China.

The second issue that needs to resolved is the stapled visas that are being given to resident of J&K. By doing so, China is coming across a neighbor trying to take side of Pakistan instead of being neutral.

The third issue that needs to be talked about is the construction of huge dams on Brahmaputra river affecting the ecosystem and the downstream economies dependent on the river water.

"China and India are partners for cooperation and not rivals in competition. There is enough space in the world for the development of both China and India and there are enough areas for us to cooperate," he said addressing industry leaders of the two countries at a meeting organised by the apex chambers in New Delhi.

He said some people described China and India as economic competitors and likened them to a dragon and an elephant.

"I don't agree with such a view and I don't think business people agree either," Wen said.

He said both the countries stand to gain from economic cooperation. With a combined population of 2.5 billion, which accounts for two-fifths of the world's population, "We are both in process of rapid industrialisation and urbanisation accompanied by fast and sustainable economic growth."

Making out a case for liberalising bilateral trade (about USD 49 billion till January-October 2010), Wen said, liberalisation of the markets hold huge potential for the domestic markets of the two countries.

"By opening markets to each other, we will be most dynamic economies and can support each other in economic development," he said.

Though China has mooted the idea of free trade agreement, India has not favourably responded considering a huge trade imbalance to Indian industry.

The Chinese Premier is accompanied by a large delegation of business leaders from different sectors, mainly in the infrastructure areas.

NEW DELHI â€” When leaders from the worldâ€™s most dynamic major economies get together, how do they plan to discuss their increasing dominance over global growth?
Very very carefully, it seems.

On Wednesday, the Chinese premier, Wen Jiabao, lands in New Delhi for a three-day trip, his first visit to India in five years. Like Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain, President Obama and President Nicolas Sarkozy of France before him, Mr. Wen comes with a large entourage of executives and key ministers.

But while Mr. Wenâ€™s delegation may be big, diplomats from both sides have played down expectations of any significant trade announcements or ground-breaking partnerships between the worldâ€™s most populous nations.

On Monday, Chinaâ€™s ambassador to India, Zhang Yan, called the relationship between the two countries â€œvery fragileâ€ while Indiaâ€™s foreign secretary, Nirupama Rao, spoke vaguely of the need for the two countries to move toward â€œcongruence and cooperation.â€

India and China together are home to more than a third of the worldâ€™s population, share a border of about 2,500 miles, and are expected to drive world economic growth in the years ahead. But ties between the two countries have been hurt by mistrust, ignorance and even hostility. The two countries have openly tussled over land and water rights, and more covertly over questions of intellectual property and employment visas.

Economically, â€œIndia and China both can rise, but there are a lot of conflicts,â€ said Ramgopal Agarwala, a senior adviser to RIS, a Delhi-based research group on emerging markets, and a former World Bank economist in China. â€œBoth sides want to sort them out, but no one knows how.â€

Business ties between the two were frayed further this year, after Indian officials enacted a virtual ban on the import of Chinese telecommunications equipment, citing security concerns, and clamped down on the percentage of overseas workers foreign companies could hire, a response to Chinese companies importing workers to build power plants here.

But that does not mean that economic ties are nonexistent â€” China is Indiaâ€™s largest trading partner. Bilateral trade is set to reach $60 billion this fiscal year, up from $42 billion in the year that ended in March. Still, the relationship strongly favors China â€” India exported $11.6 billion to China last fiscal year.

Where and how to fix that imbalance is unclear, analysts and economists in India say.

There are few examples of successful business tie-ups between the two nations, like the partnership of decades between Maruti of India and Suzuki of Japan, now Indiaâ€™s biggest car manufacturer. Chinese companies do not, for the most part, outsource jobs to India like American, European and British companies do, and they compete with Indiaâ€™s information technology companies.

The two countries also compete to make pharmaceuticals and ingredients for drug makers, and both are vying to become a center for low-cost research and development centers for global corporations. Any deals that could be announced during the Chinese premierâ€™s visit may rely heavily on Chinaâ€™s infrastructure expertise, including plans to build power plants in India.

On Monday, the Chinese ambassador, Zhang Yan, expressed hope that the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the worldâ€™s largest bank, would be allowed to open in India. There are 10 Indian banks operating in China, he noted.

Chinese officials have also said they would like to see a free trade agreement between the two countries, but Indian officials say there are too many concerns about subsidies in the Chinese market that could influence prices.

Nonetheless, Mr. Wenâ€™s schedule remains heavily weighted toward business. On Wednesday, Mr. Wen and Indiaâ€™s commerce minister, Anand Sharma, will speak at the â€œIndia-China Business Cooperation Summitâ€ arranged by several trade groups. Later, Mr. Wen will visit Tagore International School, a New Delhi school with a Chinese exchange program. On Thursday, Mr. Wen is scheduled to attend a banquet hosted by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, and meet with Sonia Gandhi, the chairwoman of the ruling political alliance.

When it is all over, perhaps the most important thing that can come from this weekâ€™s visit is a plan to do it over again, sooner, analysts said.

â€œI hope there will be a greater interest in knowing each other,â€ Mr. Agarwala said. â€œIn my judgment that would be a very concrete result.â€

After multi-billion dollar deals with US and French companies, Indian businesses are inking $ 16 billion worth deals with China's industry, whose representatives are accompanying Premier Wen Jiabao on his three-day India visit. "The (investment and trade promotion) mission is scheduled to sign
economic and trade agreement worth more than $ 16 billion with Indian companies," Wen said in the presence of Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma in New Delhi.

Addressing a gathering of Indian and Chinese Industry captains, the visiting premier said China is ready to work with India to increase the scale, and expand the scope of bilateral business cooperation.

With two-way trade between India and China poised to cross $ 60 billion this year, Wen said that during his meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh he would discuss ways to enhance it further.

"I will discuss with Prime Minister Singh, the ways to substantially increase our trade volume and set a new target in this regard," he said.

There is enough scope for expansion of the bilateral trade as it accounted for a mere 0.2 per cent of the world's total trade, he said, adding the two countries have completed a joint feasibility study for a regional trade agreement.

"Believing that this arrangement will benefit both sides, we look forward for the early launch of the negotiation process," Wen said.

On India's concerns on trade imbalance, he said China takes its "seriously".

"China takes seriously the trade imbalance between our countries and stands ready to take further measures to facilitate the access of Indian IT products, pharmaceuticals and agro products to the Chinese market," Wen said.

India had a trade imbalance of $ 19 billion with China in 2009-10.

Agreements, which will be signed during Wen's visit include those between China Development Bank and Reliance Power, China Aluminium International Trading Co and Vedanta Aluminium Ltd, Bank of China and IDBI, Dongfang Electric Corporation Ltd and Abhijeet Projects Ltd.

Indian industry signed $ 10 billion worth business deals with US companies during President Barack Obama's visit in November and followed it up with $ 13 billion dollar worth transactions with French business groups dueing President Nicholas Sasrkozy's visit earlier this month.

Anil Ambani-led Reliance Communications on Wednesday said it has entered into a pact with China Development Bank Corporations for a loan of USD 1.93 billion (about Rs. 9,000 crore) which will be used to refinance 3G spectrum fee and for purchase of telecom equipments.

The proposed facility has 10 years maturity and will be funded by a syndicate, including China Development Bank and other Chinese Banks and Financial Institutions, RCom said in a statement.

RCom will benefit from extension of maturity and substantial savings in interest cost.

However, the facility is subjected to necessary approvals, the statement added.

The company added that the memorandum of understanding covers â€œthe first and the largest syndicated loan of USD 1.33 billion for refinancing 3G spectrum fee and financing up to USD 600 million towards 85 per cent of the equipment and services to be procured from Huawei Technologies and ZTE Corporation.â€

Earlier in May, Reliance Communications had won 13 key telecom circles during the 3G auction, including the key metros of Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata.

With trade heavily balanced in favour of China and china ready to ask for more and more access. This cannot be a one way road. shouldn't we use this as leverage in bargaining with china. we should clearly tell them that you need to give us following .
1. remove stapled visa for kashmir people .
2. stop illicit support to Pakistani nuclear programs .
3. stop activity in Gilgit baltistan .
4. sufficient progress on border issue.
If not we should be more than happy to screw their surplus in trade and go on economic offensive. they are bound to loose more than we will as trade is heavily balanced in their favour and will tilt even further.
I have been following his trip and it seems that chinese are here only for business and there is no sign of any progress on political front.

With trade heavily balanced in favour of China and china ready to ask for more and more access. This cannot be a one way road. shouldn't we use this as leverage in bargaining with china. we should clearly tell them that you need to give us following .
1. remove stapled visa for kashmir people .
2. stop illicit support to Pakistani nuclear programs .
3. stop activity in Gilgit baltistan .
4. sufficient progress on border issue.
If not we should be more than happy to screw their surplus in trade and go on economic offensive. they are bound to loose more than we will as trade is heavily balanced in their favour and will tilt even further.
I have been following his trip and it seems that chinese are here only for business and there is no sign of any progress on political front.

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All you asked is political favor or military favor instead of trade favor. Don't you think it is a little bit wired?
And remember, india is not among top trading partners of China. Even US or EU cannot force china to make concession with economic power. Why do you think india is special?

Even US or EU cannot force china to make concession with economic power. Why do you think india is special?

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Ok US is not so great on many other areas these days either. Examples include Financial crisis, two wars about which they are unsure about. EU has got their own flaws of depending on US for security, their internal politics between member countries etc. Not very shining examples IMO.

If we buy stuff worth 50+ billion USD each year from China. What is stopping India from putting tax on those imports to stall that trade by making it unprofitable for them? China might have leverage on US due to various factors.

there is enough space for both the two Asian nations to develop and prosper.

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The Americans have a saying - Remember the Alamo! "Remember the Alamo" was a battle cry in which the bitterness of the Texans over the massacres by Mexican forces at the Alamo in San Antonio,

Likewise, we should not be taken in again with such pious statements as were taken in, in Bandung, with such high faluting thoughts as the Panchsheel and all that, giving rise to the false euphoria generated by the Hindi - Chini Bhai Bhai!

So, Remember Bandung! The bitterness of the betrayal in 1962, after the piety in Bandung, should not be forgotten and should be a guide of the doublespeak that is Chinese Communists speciality.